A UK prosecution for Tipping off
15/11/2023
November 14th, 2023, the SFO secured the conviction of solicitor William Osmond for disclosing confidential details about an investigation to a client, known as “tipping off” – the first solicitor the SFO has prosecuted for this offence.
Osmond was also convicted of forging a legal document to mislead SFO investigators.
In 2018, SFO investigators made covert enquiries about one of Osmond’s clients, James Redding Ramsay, who had paid £4 million toward purchasing a Mayfair property.
Osmond immediately contacted his client about the investigation. He met with Mr Ramsay multiple times over the next five months to discuss the matter, including flying out to Mr Ramsay’s home in Malta and meeting him at a West London private dining club.
Osmond also supplied the SFO with a fake “Letter of Engagement” that set out his role as solicitor for a British Virgin Islands company, which was purchased by Mr Ramsay and used to move funds to buy the London property.
When SFO investigators searched Mr Osmond’s office in 2019, they discovered hand-written notes detailing his discussions with his client and evidence of the forgery on his computer.
Osmond will be sentenced on 30 November 2023 at the Old Bailey.
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